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Plants and trees in Rambla Climate-House by Andrés Jaque, Office for Political Innovation and Miguel Mesa del Castillo

Sustainable News

Rambla Climate-House uses a ravine landscape to support biodiversity

By Zarkon Group,29/01/2023

Spanish architects Andrés Jaque and Miguel Mesa del Castillo have built a climate-conscious house that restores the drought-tolerant ecology of a site on the outskirts of Murcia.

Rambla Climate-House is raised up on stilts above a wild landscape, designed to preserve the site’s soil humidity and rejuvenate its biodiversity.

The fissured topography is modelled on the ravines – or “ramblas” as they are called in Spanish – that existed before the Molina de Segura area was flattened and urbanised.

The project came about when Mesa del Castillo was asked to build a family home here for his brother and sister-in-law.

Rather than follow the typical suburban template, the architect invited Jacque and his New York-based studio, Office for Political Innovation, to help him explore a new approach.

Exterior of Rambla Climate-House by Andrés Jaque, Office for Political Innovation and Miguel Mesa del Castillo — The house is raised up from the landscape on stilts

Working with soil expert María Martínez Mena and ecologists Paz Parrondo Celdrán and Rubén Vives, the architects developed a design that uses both high-tech and low-tech approaches to reverse the damage of urbanisation.

As well as raising Rambla Climate-House up from the ground, which allows the land below to be rewilded, the design team added an intelligent, eco-friendly irrigation system.

This smart system uses wastewater to achieve an appropriate soil moisture level, based on both sensor data and weather reports.

“The Rambla Climate-House works as a climatic and ecological device,” said Office for Political Innovation.

“[It] collects pooled rainfall from its roofs and grey water from its showers and sinks, to spray onto the rambla’s remains and regenerate their former ecologic and climatic constitution,” the studio added.

As the architects explain, ravines are more effective at preserving soil moisture than flat ground, which is why plants are able to survive during long periods of drought.

Drought-tolerant ravine garden — The ravines preserve soil moisture, making is easier for plants to grow

The ravines at Rambla Climate-House were artificially created using soil excavated to create the only flat area on the whole property – a carport at the entrance.

In the space of a year, the ramblas have become home to palm, fig and mastic trees, plants and grasses, and various animal, bird and insect species.

Marble balcony of Rambla Climate-House by Andrés Jaque, Office for Political Innovation and Miguel Mesa del Castillo — A passive irrigation system uses wastewater

The house’s architecture was designed to take advantage of the unusual landscape setting as well as keep costs down.

Exterior walls are all clad in galvanised steel apart from those that face the biodiverse garden, which are formed of floor-to-ceiling glazing.

Green interior of Rambla Climate-House by Andrés Jaque, Office for Political Innovation and Miguel Mesa del Castillo — Floor-to-ceiling glazing connects living spaces with the landscape

Beyond the glazed facade, a marble balcony provides a passively cooled seating area, while a solar coil gives the house an energy-efficient source of hot water.

Inside, rooms are laid out in sequence so that the garden is visible from everywhere. Living spaces are located at one end of the building, while three bedrooms can be found at the other end.

A striking apple-green shade colours both the interior walls and the underside of the roof, matching the plants visible outside.

Green bedroom — The interior is coloured in apple green

Jaque – who is also dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, GSAPP – is known for his experimental and eco-conscious approach to architecture.

Previous projects by Office for Political Innovation include the cascading Never Never Land House in Ibiza, the water-purifying Comso installation in New York, and the recently completed Reggio School near Madrid.

Facade and car port of Rambla Climate-House by Andrés Jaque, Office for Political Innovation and Miguel Mesa del Castillo — An excavated car port provided soil for the landscaping

Rambla Climate-House continues the trend. “Since its completion, the house has became a demonstrative device,” said the studio.

“Gatherings with neighbours and members of the extended Molina de Segura community are organised to share insights and experiences on a collective effort to reground Molina de Segura’s urbanisms.”

The photography is by José Hevia, with drone operation by Juan José Rojo Albadalejo.

Project credits:

Clients: Victoria Sánchez Muñoz, Antonio Mesa del Castillo Clavel
Architect: Andrés Jaque/Office for Political Innovation, Miguel Mesa del Castillo
Design team: Roberto González García, Nieves Calvo López, Joan Fernández Linares, Ana Fernández Martínez, Marina Fernández Ramos, David Gil Delgado, Marta Jarabo Devesa, Jesús Meseguer Cortés, Laura Mora Vitoria, Paola Pabón, Belverence Tameau
Quantity survey: Francisco de Asís Pérez Martínez
Estructural engineering: Qube Ingeniería (Iago González Quelle)
Edaphology consultant: María Martínez Mena
Ecology consultant: Paz Parrondo Celdrán
Planting consultancy: Viveros Muzalé (Rubén Vives)
Topographical survey: Fulgencio Ma Coll Coll
Geotechnical report: Forte Ingeniería
Quality survey: Ingeolab
Construction: Excavaciones Eltoni, Hacienda Corvera, Cerrajería Alberto Sobrino, Construcciones Vifransa, Aispomur, Escayolas Dani, Hijos de Pascual Baño, Carpintería Tornel, Cristalería Marín, ACOM Agrocomponentes, Fontanería Diego, Anzora Instalaciones, Iceberg Climatización, Netro, Prymur, SYC Piedra Natural, Areniscas Crema, Mirete Mallas Metálicas, Gestchaft

Reference

Sustainable News

An eye-tracking sleep mask for at-home sleep monitoring

By Zarkon Group,28/01/2023

Spotted: In the United States, 70 per cent of adults report having at least one insufficient sleep per month, with 11 per cent having this problem nightly. With much of our sleep being a mystery to researchers, people often find themselves unsure how to doze off problem-free. Hoping to undercover these mysteries is Washington-based Somalytics with its SomaSleep sleep mask. The revolutionary mask uses eye-tracking movement in an in-home environment to detect what hurdles block someone from better sleep. 

Eye movements happen at every sleep stage, but they can be interrupted by stress, injury, disease, medications, and alcohol, resulting in tiredness. SomaSleep can track and classify all eye movements in both closed and open eyes, during sleep or whilst awake. The new technology, therefore, enables users to understand their sleep patterns and explain fatigue in ground-breaking ways.  

As Barbara Barclay, the CEO of Somalytics, explains: “sleep problems affect the lives of billions of people, and understanding the quality of sleep is at the heart of the solution. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) is critical for learning and memory (…) until now, the only option to track REM was through sleep centres, where data is typically manually interpreted. With SomaSleep, we are enabling consumers to track all stages of sleep, including REM, in the comfort of and privacy of their own home through a lightweight, easy to use sleep mask.”

By December 2023, SomaSleep is expected to be available for consumer purchase for $199 (around €183). 

Springwise has previously spotted other innovations aimed at bettering our sleep, including an app that helps you fall asleep, and a technology that makes beds automatically adjust to provide users with an optimal night’s sleep. 

Written By: Georgia King

Reference

Black and White building made from mass timber

Sustainable News

Waugh Thistleton Architects designs mass-timber Black & White Building

By Zarkon Group,28/01/2023

London studio Waugh Thistleton Architects has unveiled the Black & White Building, a mass-timber office building designed for The Office Group in Shoreditch with a slatted tulipwood facade.

The 17.8-metre-high office building, which the studio says is the “tallest mass-timber office building in central London”, was built from a combination of beech, pine and spruce timber.

Constructed from structural timber, Waugh Thistleton Architects clad the exterior of the six-storey building in tulipwood timber louvres from the street level to the roof.

“The design means that you also get the beauty of the timber internally,” Waugh Thistleton co-founder Andrew Waugh told Dezeen.

“It’s a simple form driven by the context of timber engineering, as well as the context of the surrounding Victorian buildings – these were also constructed using current methods and built to a brief,” Waugh added.

“There is no narrative here, it is pure modernism.”

Tulipwood timber cladding on the Black and White building — Tulipwood louvres protect it from the sun

Waugh Thistleton Architects constructed the 4,480-square-metre Black & White Building from prefabricated components that were precision-engineered to be slotted together.

This means the building, which Waugh describes as “visibly sustainable”, is dismantlable and can be disassembled rather than demolished at the end of its life with its materials reused.

Wood-clad interior of London office building — Wood was also used to decorate the interior, with sculptures created from wood beams

Its foundation and lower ground floor were made from concrete, with the rest of the structure constructed from cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Curtain walling was made from glued laminated timber (glulam), while columns and beams were constructed from laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which the studio said helps save on space.

“We have CLT panels for the core and CLT panels for the floors,” Waugh Thistleton Architects associate director David Lomax said. “And then the columns and beams are made from quite a highly engineered product called LVL.”

“We’re talking about typically, at the lowest level where the loads are greatest, about 100 millimetres on each side of the column saving in its dimensions,” he added.

“That’s made out of beech, which is a hardwood so it performs much, much better. [It’s] smaller columns.”

Inyterior of Black and White office building — London studio Daytrip designed the interior

According to the studio, by using engineered-wood materials rather than a traditional concrete and steel structure, the building saves “thousands of tonnes in CO2” as it generates much less greenhouse gas.

The building also has at least 37 per cent less embodied carbon than comparable concrete structures, according to The Office Group (TOG).

It was named the Black & White Building as it replaces an earlier building on the site, a Victorian brick warehouse with a timber interior that had been painted black and white.

The existing building was deteriorating and not suitable for a retrofit, Waugh Thistleton Architects said.

“It couldn’t be extended – it was very small and had no foundations,” Waugh said. “Extending it would have been just a cosmetic exercise. This isn’t romance, it’s architecture.”

Workspace inside the Black & White building by Daytrip — Warm hues contrast the timber walls inside

After meeting Waugh at a panel talk about sustainability, TOG co-founder Charlie Green asked him to instead create a new building that would be suitable for the site.

“We took our planning consented scheme, and we used the envelope and the massing of that to ask Andrew to create something within that form that’s timber,” Green said.

“He did more than that, he redesigned it so we had a more efficient core position to create a better flow of space, and came up with this timber scheme.”

The office is partly powered by 80 photovoltaic panels on its roof, with all other energy coming from green suppliers, Green said.

Daytrip-designed interior of Shoreditch office building — “Wasabi green” was used for the interior

Design studio Daytrip created the interior of the building, which contains 28 offices in different sizes as well as six meeting rooms, break-out areas and focus booths and a dedicated yoga and barre studio on the ground floor.

The building’s timber features are also visible inside, where the timber walls match the wooden furniture.

“We reacted to the original concept and the sustainable drive and wanted to continue that in the interiors,” said Daytrip co-founder Iwan Halstead.

“We wanted to respect and celebrate the timber part of the architecture.”

Wooden furniture in interior by Daytrip — Most of the furniture comes from UK suppliers

Timber beams from the Victorian warehouse that previously occupied the site were kept and turned into wooden sculptures that decorate the ground-floor lobby.

Daytrip aimed to also keep the furniture as local and sustainable as possible.

“A lot of the specifications and furniture are UK suppliers and that was something that we wanted to make an effort to achieve, and we’ve done it with 80 per cent of the furniture,” Halstead said.

The overall interior design was informed by Tokyo’s original Hotel Okura, a mid-century modern hotel that was demolished in 2015 but has since been rebuilt.

A colour palette of muted green and earthy hues, which Daytrip gave names like “wasabi green,” is combined with tactile materials, including some made from recycled components.

Chequered floor inside The Office Group building in Shoreditch — The interior design was informed by Hotel Okura in Tokyo

At the top of the building sits a rooftop terrace, while a central lightwell was designed to help maximise the building’s natural light.

The building is “about sustainability more than anything,” Waugh said. “It’s a bright future for architecture, not the hair shirt and oat milk that sustainability is always described as.”

TOG operates more than 50 workspaces in the UK and Europe. These include an office in Borough Yards with an interior by Danish designer David Thulstrup, and a Euston workspace with an interior informed by nearby buildings such as the British Library.

The photography is by Jake Curtis.

Reference

Smiling adults socialize and dine on outdoor patio, amid attractive plantings

Sustainable News Zero Energy Homes

Calif. Embraces Passive House for Zero Carbon Multifamily Housing

By Zarkon Group,28/01/2023

The housing crisis in California is leaving thousands unsheltered and millions more with high rent burdens, threatening low-income communities, who are disproportionately people of color. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is causing wildfires, dangerous air quality, and widespread power shut-offs. A recent study funded by the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how Passive House (PH) design principles should be utilized in new construction to create zero carbon multifamily housing and contribute to more comfortable, healthy, and safe buildings for residents.

The Advancing Options for Decarbonization in Multifamily Buildings study developed by BluePoint Planning will inform the state’s zero-carbon program for new multifamily construction, and is designed to shape future California Energy codes (Title 24 part 6). The intention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from multifamily buildings, promote occupant safety and comfort, and provide greater resilience in the face of climate change and extreme weather.

The study promotes deep energy efficiency practices and encourages market actors to go beyond code, by integrating ultra-efficient PH approaches in the design and construction of new zero carbon multifamily housing. Passive House design elements emphasize airtight construction, reduced thermal bridging, and passive daylighting, heating, and cooling as much as possible.

Why Passive House?

Building on stakeholders’ and technical advisors’ input, the study highlights that PH in multifamily buildings is cost-effective and is one of the best building sectors to focus on. PH buildings can use up to 80% less energy than existing standard construction, and 20% less energy than current California energy code. The PH model has been around for more than 40 years and can be applied to all building types—including multifamily residential and mixed-use commercial and multifamily. The technique has become popular throughout Europe, while gaining ground in the United States as well, with the square footage of PH buildings more than doubling every 2 years over the past decade. Today, there are more than 100 multifamily Passive House buildings in the US, equaling more than 2.7 million square feet; though there are few in California.

PH construction relies on a well-insulated building envelope that minimizes air leaks and thermal bridging, to create an ultra–energy-efficient building. Other elements such as double- and triple-paned, properly installed windows are also needed to achieve proper insulation. The resulting energy efficiency and reduction in demand is critical to meet California’s climate goals, to support the electrical grid, and to lower costs to ratepayers.

Building systems and beyond

Zero carbon multifamily buildings must be all-electric, utilizing efficient heat pump HVAC and heat pump water heaters. Note that the elimination of natural gas infrastructure helps reduce construction costs. Did you know that that plug loads consume 30% to 44% of whole building energy for multifamily buildings (depending on climate zone), because each unit has less space to be heated and cooled but still uses roughly the same number of appliances? Thus, highly efficient appliances will have high impact in reducing energy consumption. Consider induction cooktops, heat pump clothes dryers, and ENERGY STAR rated or other third-party certified microwaves, dishwashers, clothes washers, and refrigerators. In addition, the study requires that operation and management of multifamily buildings actively reduce emissions associated with energy use.

The study expands the discussion beyond the building’s systems and considers siting, connection to other buildings, and potential for scaled infrastructure. Proper site design, orientation to the sun, and site shading all affect the need for heating and cooling. When done correctly, these elements work in tandem with airtight insulation to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures with minimal active heating and cooling.

Solar battery storage for resilience

Solar and storage are also critical elements to creating low carbon, resilient buildings. Once a multifamily building approaches ultra-low energy use intensity (EUI) targets, solar and storage must be integrated to help satisfy the building’s daily energy demands and to support basic electricity needs during a power outage. For multifamily properties, it’s essential to consider rooftop configurations and availability, and to enable siting solar over parking areas or other parts of the site. The decarbonization study also covers integration of electric charging stations and vehicle-to-grid technologies that can help to raise the overall benefits of a zero carbon building and its resilience.

Passive House design is known best as helping to create high-performing buildings and reducing energy use. However, key elements like insulation, energy efficient appliances, and solar with battery storage, can have invaluable resilience benefits in a world where climate change impacts are becoming more extreme and life-threatening.

Resilience and equity in zero carbon multifamily housing

The study considers equity as an essential principle, and advocates that PH buildings provide a durable sanctuary for residents in the face of disaster, extreme weather, or smoke from wildfires. (Durable sanctuary refers to a home or building that ensures a safe and healthy living space for its occupants both every day and during emergencies, including power outages for multiple days.) This is particularly important for disadvantaged populations who are more likely to have increased vulnerability to climate threats and are more likely to experience health complications from such an event.

One study showed that PH buildings can maintain a sufficient indoor temperature in the case of a power shut off in the extreme cold for over 6 days, compared to traditionally designed buildings, which only stay comfortable for about 1 day. The potential for Passive House as a resilience tool and mechanism to promote safety and potentially life-saving services in the face of disaster is ready to be realized.

Residents wal and socialize in courtyard of sustainable affordable housing development

The Advancing Options for Decarbonization in Multifamily Buildings study can be considered a reference point for where the housing industry in California is headed. As such, it can act as a tool for design and construction professionals in California to help align their industries towards Passive House standards and more climate-friendly and resilient multifamily buildings. This includes promoting and expanding relevant training, aligning energy modeling tools, and advocating for resilience standards and certifications in their projects.

Bianca Hutner has a background in climate policy advocacy and local government climate planning. At BluePoint Planning, she helps California local jurisdictions reduce emissions and promote resilience through climate planning efforts and assists in regional and statewide efforts to curb climate change and promote an energy-resilient future. Hutner is a co-author of the Multifamily Zero Carbon Action Plan for the California Public Utilities Commission.

Reference

Sustainable News

Increasing the protein count in chickpeas

By Zarkon Group,27/01/2023

Spotted: Supplying the world’s growing population with healthy amounts of protein that do not further damage the environment, has been a challenge for growers for generations. Plant-based proteins are a popular meat and dairy replacement but have not yet scaled enough to be totally commercially viable and are often too expensive once they do reach supermarket shelves. Meeting food regulatory requirements is also part of the difficulty of bringing such alternatives to shops.

A new approach, from a California food tech company called NuCicer, doubles the protein value of the humble chickpea, making it a financially attractive alternative to other plant-based proteins, nearly cutting the cost of production of the crop in half. Bred from a strain of chickpea native to Turkey, Professor Douglas Cook, co-Founder and CSO at NuCicer, spent twenty years of research on legume genetics to bring the NuCicer version to market.

The company offers proteins that are tailored to a specific product. For example, by including special gelling and emulsification properties, it allows the chickpea protein to be used in place of eggs or incorporating a specific mix of amino acids for use instead of meat. The NuCicer chickpeas are not genetically modified, and because the new variety contains double the amount of protein, growers can either double their output on the same amount of land or reduce the size of their crop while maintaining the same volume of protein output.

The food industry is an area of exciting change, and Springwise has spotted products that range from bacteria-based, dairy-free whipped cream to fast-food vegan sushi restaurants.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Sustainable News

Insulation’s energy savings “vanish” after four years Cambridge study finds

By Zarkon Group,27/01/2023

Energy savings achieved by insulating UK homes appear to be cancelled out within a few years by an increase in energy use, according to a study by the University of Cambridge.

The study, which analysed the gas-use patterns of more than 55,000 homes across England and Wales, found that the fall in gas consumption achieved by retrofitting wall insulation was voided within four years.

Retrofitting lofts proved half as effective, with any gains becoming “insignificant” after year two, the researchers said.

Further research is now needed into the causes of this “rebound effect”, which is preventing energy savings from continuing long-term.

But the study posits that it could be due to the simultaneous construction of home extensions, which can increase a household’s energy consumption by around 16 per cent.

“We found that energy efficiency retrofits are often combined with home improvements that actually increase consumption, such as extensions,” explained Cristina Peñasco, an associate professor in public policy at the University of Cambridge, who co-authored the study.

Home insulation “not a magic bullet”

Other possible causes include the fact that 18 per cent of English households have conservatories, which according to the study negate any energy savings within the first year, as well as the possibility that energy and cost savings could in turn encourage increased consumption.

To achieve a long-term reduction in gas use and the associated emission – in line with the UK’s mission to reach energy independence and net-zero emissions – the researchers argue that insulation thus needs to go hand-in-hand with the installation of heat pumps and regulations to change people’s behaviour.

“There are very real benefits to households from good insulation, not least in terms of health and comfort,” said co-author Laura Diaz Anadon, who is the director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance.

“However, home insulation alone is not a magic bullet,” she added. “In the long term, simply funding more of the same insulation roll-out to meet the UK’s carbon reduction and energy security targets may not move the dial as much as is hoped.”

Wall insulation causes seven per cent drop in gas use

Published in the Energy Economics journal, the study is the first to track the long-term effects of insulation in households across England and Wales, according to the researchers.

Their analysis is based on data collected by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, tracking households’ gas use for five years before and after insulation was installed.

Factoring in the age and size of the building, as well as the weather and gas prices at the time, the study found that cavity wall insulation was the most effective, leading to an average seven per cent drop in gas use in the first year.

In comparison, retrofitting loft insulation saw an initial fall of only four per cent.

“Insulating the lofts and cavity walls of existing UK housing stock only reduces gas consumption for the first year or two, with all energy savings vanishing by the fourth year after a retrofit,” the study concluded.

Retrofits must include heat pumps

In low-income households, these savings were even smaller – an average of three per cent during the first and second year post-retrofit – suggesting that any savings are immediately redirected into keeping the home warmer for longer.

This proves that insulation is effective in democratising access to heating and fighting fuel poverty, the researchers argue, especially in light of the current energy and cost-of-living crises.

But the study also shows that, to actually cut down on gas use and emissions, insulation retrofits must go along with energy reduction targets for households and waivers on energy bills for low-income households, the researchers argue.

In addition, they argue electric heat pumps should be installed alongside insulation to decarbonise residential heating, which is responsible for around 14 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions.

The country’s housing stock is among the oldest and least energy efficient in Europe, which has long led industry groups including the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Construction Leadership Council and the Architects Climate Action Network to call for a comprehensive national retrofit strategy.

Alongside insulation, they argue a holistic approach would must include the addition of “low-carbon” heat pumps and triple-glazed windows at the same time.

The top photo is by Jupiter Images.

Reference

Sustainable News

Three innovations revolutionising food production

By Zarkon Group,26/01/2023

When it comes to food, the world faces a two-pronged challenge. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, by 2050 we will need to produce 60 per cent more food to feed a world population of 9.3 billion. At the same time, food systems cause 25 to 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and this figure rises to around one-third when we include all agricultural products.

We therefore not only need to produce more food – we also need to build a more sustainable food supply chain. As a result, by 2043, we are likely to produce food in a very different way. To shed some light on the topic, we asked some of the world’s leading futurists a simple question: what will we eat in 2043?

“The biggest impact on what we eat will be the personalisation of our diets,” explains food futurist Tony Hunter. “As we continue to explore our genetics and microbiome, we’ll come to understand just how individual we are in our nutritional responses to food,” he adds.

Hunter also argues that, “By 2043, we’ll have a range of new protein and other food products unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.” However, Christophe Pelletier, founder of The Food Futurist, is more skeptical in his assessment. According to him, “The future of food comes down to three boring but important aspects: price, the ability of food businesses to control costs, and the level of management skills of the business leadership.” In his assessment, “alternative protein producers come quite short on all three counts.”

So, will we be tucking into a whole host of exotic new proteins for our Wednesday lunch in 2043? Only time will tell. In the meantime, discover three innovations that represent the cutting edge of food innovation today.

‘ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS’ COULD BE THE FUTURE OF FOOD

Through photosynthesis, plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and energy from sunlight into sugars that they use to grow biomass. This process has been the basis of the food chain for millions of years, yet it is surprisingly inefficient. In fact, only about one per cent of the energy found in sunlight actually ends up in the plant. Now, scientists at the University of California Riverside have found a way to improve on mother nature by bypassing biological photosynthesis entirely. Read more

WORLD’S LARGEST VERTICAL MYCELIUM FARM SCALES UP PRODUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE BACON

It only takes MyForest Foods 12 days to grow an entire crop of mycelium, with the harvesting taking only a single day. Such rapid growth is made possible by the simulated forest inside Swersey Silos, the company’s newly expanded growing facilities in New York. The vertical farm contains seven growing rooms with just under two acres of total farm space. Read more

Photo source Olga Kudriavtseva on Unsplash

UPCYCLING BARLEY BYPRODUCTS INTO HIGH-PROTEIN FLOUR

Seoul-based food upcycling startup RE:Harvest has created a new flour alternative made from upcycled barley from the production of beer and sikhye – a traditional sweet Korean beverage. The company says that its powder is not only more sustainable than traditional flour, but that it also has a higher protein content. The company is currently working on scaling up its production so that it can meet the demand from both domestic and international customers – as well as expanding their byproduct sourcing. Read more

Want to discover more about what the world will look like in 2043? Download our free Future 2043 report which draws on the insights of 20 of the world’s leading futurists. For more innovations, head to the Springwise Innovation Library.

Reference

Nontalo stools arranged in four different positions

Sustainable News

Olive pits form modular Nontalo kids’ stool by Eneris Collective

By Zarkon Group,26/01/2023

Design duo Eneris Collective has collaborated with Barcelona-based biomaterials company NaifactoryLAB to produce a playful stool for children made from waste olive pits.

The Nontalo stool is constructed from six modules – three P-shaped pieces that can be combined and positioned in different ways and three straight rods that hold them together, forming a variety of shapes from a three-legged stool to a bench seat and many alternatives in between.

All of the modules are made entirely of Reolivar, a smooth cork-like material that NaifactoryLAB created by mixing olive pits with bio-based binders and other natural ingredients.

Spanish designers Irene Segarra and Irene Martínez, who came together under the name Eneris Collective for this project, describe Nontalo as a seating design “where play, spontaneity and sustainability are in harmony”.

Close-up on the Nontalo stool by Eneris Collective — The stool is made of Reolivar, a biomaterial made from olive pits

The duo created the stool after NaifactoryLAB invited them to experiment with Reolivar and develop new applications for the biocomposite.

“For four months, we worked with this new material,” Martínez told Dezeen. “We got to know the possibilities it has, the pros and cons, and what its limits are.”

“The idea was to generate a structure that doesn’t have the obvious shape of a stool with a seat and legs, but maintains the same function,” she continued.

Nontalo stool in background with pieces disassembled in foreground — Three rods hold the stool together

The designers began by deciding on a series of words and concepts to define their intention of the project before sketching proposals and interweaving these different ideas.

“Our inspiration throughout this design stage was children’s construction sets,” said Martínez.

The duo initially created a right-angled design for the P-shaped modules but ended up turning the legs out by five degrees after realising it created better weight distribution as well as bringing a sense of harmony.

To lock the pieces together, users simply have to slot the straight rods through their central opening.

Eneris Collective shaped the Reolivar pieces in custom moulds, which Martínez says has the benefit of limiting waste as there are no offcuts.

The material can be composted at the end of its life or returned to NaifactoryLAB for recycling. The stool’s mono-material design makes this particularly straightforward, as there are no other materials or components to separate.

A hand assembles several pieces of brown, cork-like furniture by Eneris Collective — The design is meant to invite play and spontaneity

Over the course of its life, the material will age according to its environmental conditions and will last longer in dry, indoor environments away from humidity and rain, according to NaifactoryLAB.

The biomaterials company first developed Reolivar in 2020 using a bunch of olive pits grabbed from a dish at the end of a meal. Since then, it has been turned into a range of products including lamps, bowls, mirrors and trophies.

Eneris Collective is now working to develop a wider Nontalo Kids seating collection, building on the same shapes and ideas.

A number of other designers are experimenting with biomaterials in an attempt to produce more sustainable furniture. Some recent examples include mycelium lampshades from Estonian company Myceen and a stool and side table by Carolina Härdh, made from food waste for Gothenburg restaurant Vrå.

The photography is by Valentina Masallera and Caetano Portal.

Reference

Sustainable News

How innovation is driving energy efficiency

By Zarkon Group,25/01/2023

The third Monday of January is considered by some to be the most depressing day of the year. And, although the concept of ‘Blue Monday’ is a marketeer’s invention, energy consumers in Europe will certainly have been feeling glum in the face of a challenging outlook for energy prices.

The current energy crisis has heightened awareness of energy consumption and the need for improvements in energy efficiency. And this has translated into government action to slash energy demand in the short term. The EU, for example, has introduced voluntary measures to cut overall electricity use by 10 per cent in the EU by the end of March 2023, with obligatory reductions of 5 per cent during peak hours.

Longer-term energy efficiency improvements are also on the agenda. The UK plans to cut its energy usage by 15 per cent by 2030. And the European Commission plans to increase the EU’s binding target for energy efficiency improvements by 2030 from 9 per cent to 13 per cent (compared to a 2020 baseline). Some groups in the European Parliament want to increase it even further to 14.5 per cent.

Looking globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights that that Government ambition on efficiency has grown in 2022, with global investments in energy efficiency increasing by 16 per cent compared to 2021. And, while the energy crisis has been felt most acutely in Europe, energy efficiency affects the whole world. According to the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario, energy efficiency represents more than 40 per cent of the emissions abatement needed by 2040.

Efficiency gains in industry will play an important role in reducing emissions. But innovation is also needed to deliver energy savings in the home. Read on to discover some of the most exciting solutions that are making our homes consume energy more efficiently.

Heating and cooling

In the US, heating and cooling rooms accounts for 38 per cent of domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Finding more efficient ways to manage the temperature of our homes is therefore an important area for innovation. One solution is better insulation, and, in the UK, the issue has become so charged that it has spawned Insulate Britain, a group demanding that the Government insulate all social housing by 2025.

And while fresh research has cast doubt on the long-term effectiveness of insulation for reducing natural gas consumption, new materials that reduce reliance on energy-guzzling heating and cooling systems have been an important area of development. Swiss-Belgian startup Gramitherm, for example, makes bio-based carbon negative insulation out of grass, and engineers from Germany and China have developed a new wood-based cooling foam that could reduce the cooling needs of a building by a third.

Another approach is to make temperature management systems themselves more efficient. And in the US, a startup called Carbon Reform has developed a process to retrofit traditional HVAC systems to work more efficiently.

Energy monitoring

In order to implement energy efficiency measures, consumers need to be able to monitor their consumption. Smart meters – devices that track price and consumption data and provide automatic meter readings – have become increasingly popular in recent years. And Springwise has spotted ‘bridge’ devices that connect hard-to-reach areas with smart meter infrastructure. But beyond smart meters, Springwise has spotted a range of other solutions for tracking and acting on energy usage data.

UK startup measurable.energy has developed smart socket technology for commercial use that can safely monitor the electricity use of each socket, helping organisations save energy and money. And in Tunisia, a startup called Wattnow has developed an AI-powered system that tracks energy usage in a building. Through a dashboard accessible via both mobile and desktop, the system identifies ways to consume energy more efficiently and sends early alerts when maintenance is needed. The AI also puts together predictions for future use patterns.

Making the most of government incentives

In both the UK and US, government initiatives are encouraging the adoption of energy efficient practices. And innovators are on hand to help consumers make the most of them.

In the UK, grants are available to help retrofit the least energy-efficient homes to make them greener. But funding for the scheme is not open-ended meaning that the grants need to be targeted where they can make the most difference. To help with this, UrbanTide has developed artificial intelligence-based software that identifies homes and areas with the poorest energy efficiency. It does this by combining anonymised smart meter data with other data streams to produce detailed fuel poverty risk maps.

Meanwhile, in the US, Elephant Energy is helping homeowners electrify their properties to benefit from rebates introduced by the recent Inflation Reduction Act. The company develops customer-tailored electrification plans incorporating measures such as the installation of heat pumps, hybrid water heaters, EV chargers, and induction hobs.

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Reference

Photo of the Malala bag by Luca Nichetto and Angela Roi showing four pockets built into the top

Sustainable News

Luca Nichetto designs apple-leather Malala handbag for Angela Roi

By Zarkon Group,25/01/2023

Designer Luca Nichetto has made his first foray into fashion accessories with the Malala handbag, which was partially produced from apples for vegan leathergoods brand Angela Roi.

Malala is Angela Roi‘s first accessory made from apple leather, a fabric that is created using scraps such as peels and cores from apple processing that would otherwise go to waste.

However, while the Angela Roi website describes apple leather as an “entirely plant-based alternative to real leather”, the brand clarified to Dezeen that the material is a mix of apple-derived fibres and the petroleum-derived material polyurethane plastic that is commonly used for vegan leathergoods.

This apple-polyurethane blend is then applied on a mixed cotton-polyester backing material.

According to Nichetto Studio, the fabric retains both the feel and the look of leather, and will similarly change over time, developing a softer texture and natural sheen.

“I believe that considering the economic situation, the environmental challenges and this crisis in the world, design should try to find answers in the creation of objects that are durable and sustainable,” said Nichetto.

Photo of the Malala bag by Luca Nichetto and Angela Roi arranged in a still life — The bag is meant to offer a more sustainable alternative for high-end consumers

The bag was named after Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and features a distinctive design with four functional pockets built into the top opening.

Its design was informed by the idea of a cabinet of curiosities or a traveller’s trunk with many compartments. At the same time, its shape references potato chip containers from fast food outlets, giving the bag what Nichetto Studio describes as a “pop soul”.

The Malala bag is cruelty-free, with no animals being involved in the production. The apple leather used for it comes from Italian company Pelletteria Fusella, which uses apple scraps from an orchard in the South Tyrol region.

The orchard’s apples are used for products such as juice and jams and produces an estimated 30,000 tonnes of scraps, such as cores and peels, every year that were either being sent to landfill or burnt.

Photo of a black tote bag on its side with objects spilling out of the pockets — The bag features four functional pockets built into the top

According to Angela Roi, by using a mix of plant- and petroleum-based materials, the brand can reduce the carbon emissions of polyurethane bag production while also delivering the durability that high-end consumers expect.

“As it currently stands, petroleum-based materials play a pivotal role in the durability of bio-based leathers because extending the life cycle of a product is an incredibly important aspect of sustainability,” said brand founder Angela Lee.

“The material’s potential for impact depends on the brand and consumer adoption, and a majority of consumers will not accept big sacrifices in quality compared to leather. We have not yet seen a completely plastic-free product that meets brand and consumer requirements for softness, strength and suppleness.”

Photo of the Malala tote bag in beige arranged in a still life — The bag’s shape is partly based on potato chip containers

Lee says Angela Roi’s aim is to consistently look for better material options and eventually use one that is 100 per cent plastic-free and biodegradable as technology improves.

“Recently there has been the development of polyester yarns that are impregnated with enzymes that activate to degrade the polyester once placed in biodegradable conditions,” said Lee.

“There has also been a development of chemically engineered natural fibres that act like petroleum-based yarns. Both options are exciting and could be used as a backing material in the future.”

While many plant-based leather alternatives are now hitting the market, many still contain a plastic component, particularly as a coating, to ensure the kind of durability that is expected of consumer goods.

A similar apple leather comes from Dutch company Beyond Leather, whose Leap fabric is made by mixing the scraps with natural rubber and using a textile backing and thin plastic protective coating.

Reference

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